


personal space

by Cookiemonster2000



Series: Zim likes Gaz. That is All [5]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Bonding, Crushes, F/M, First Kiss, Flooding, Mutual Pining, but it's not that bad just zim coping poorly with abandonment, flood - Freeform, it's just as horrible as youd expect hkjlfghdk, mild stalking, or the beginnings of one, teenage gaz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29122809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cookiemonster2000/pseuds/Cookiemonster2000
Summary: Gaz finds herself under a bit of stress at a gaming convention. Luckily, someone is in the right place at the right time, and has a good idea of how to cheer her up.(NOT PART OF THE TIMELINE, just a oneshot.)
Relationships: Gaz & Zim (Invader Zim), Gaz/Zim (Invader Zim)
Series: Zim likes Gaz. That is All [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1574773
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	personal space

**Author's Note:**

> this was a livewrite from my zagr discord that i actually posted to tumblr and now to here. that's why it's somewhat messy and off-the-cuff. Hope you enjoy!

The crowd around her pulsed, and Gaz again had to physically restrain herself from throwing a punch at the taller man who'd knocked into her arm. She felt content to shoot him a glare, but he didn't even notice.

Sighing deeply, Gaz tried to make herself smaller. She'd never been the tallest person, and even in her late teens, when she was supposed to have finished growing, there was still barely any height difference between her and, well, her middle school self.

The only thing that really made her comfortable in crowds like these was the knowledge that she could easily knock down anyone who got too close. But right now, Gaz couldn't afford to get kicked out. She'd waited in line for almost a week to get into this room, to see the reveal of the newest game console by her favorite brand, and have first dibs on taking one home.

Gaz folded her arms uncomfortably, allowing yet another person to brush into her personal bubble and flinching in discomfort. It wasn't often she willingly subjected herself to such frustration, and the rage was kept simmering somewhere in her mind while she focused on her goal.

Finally-- finally!-- the lights came on and a cheer went up. Gaz squinted and refrained from clapping her hands over her ears to block out the outpouring of sudden sound. There were so many people in this room. A tingly itch at the ends of her fingers that usually told her she was close to losing her temper began making them twitch. Trying to rid herself of the unpleasant sensation, she rubbed her hands together violently, her elbow narrowly missing the smelly person beside her.

Gaz let out a frustrated sigh that she couldn't even hear over the cheering and clapping, which, horribly, made it feel even worse. Her head felt too hot and her clothes were suddenly itchy and uncomfortable, even though she'd worn her favorite outfit.

She took a step back, trying to get some space, and ran into the person behind her. Her skin screamed in protest, and Gaz tried to catch her breath, but her fists were shaking. She needed an outlet, _immediately._

Almost immediately as the thought entered her head, a hand shot out of the crowd, gripping her arm and tugging her towards it. Instinctively, Gaz yanked back at it, desperately happy for something to direct her energy at in order to let out the surge of adrenaline that was flowing through her veins, but whatever it was was really strong, and gently tugged her back. The hand felt. . . strange, and sharper than it should have, even through her long sleeves.

Without fully realizing what she was doing, Gaz allowed herself to be pulled through the crowd. People seemed to move aside to accommodate her--or rather, whoever was leading her, who was pulling her along without much care for the people around them, and seemed to be pushing through violently enough that the crowd was giving them wide berth.

Gaz didn't even have the energy to try to stay. Even the game console she'd wanted so badly faded from the forefront of her mind as the door to exit the auditorium opened in front of her and she slipped through. The grip on her arm finally loosened as she closed her eyes and breathed in the chilly night air.

Once out, Gaz finally saw who had pulled her away so quickly. The relief in her chest did nothing to quell the strange sense of confusion and deja-vu that were bubbling up in her belly.

"What are you doing here?"

Zim glared up at her, folding his arms.

"None of your business."

Gaz squinted. Since high school, she'd been seeing less and less of the little alien as her brother had slowly grown out of his obsession. Since his and Dib's graduation, she hadn't seen him at all.

Zim straightened up. "I happened to be passing through and noticed you were about to destroy the building. In my own best interest, I decided I would remove you from the source of your stress." At her dumbfounded expression, he cleared his throat and repeated. "In my own best interest."

"You. . ." Gaz slowly rubbed her fingers up and down her sleeves. The ghost of his firm grip was still there. "You noticed. . . what?"

He snorted. "It was obvious. You were radiating doom in a four human block radius. Anyone with any sense would flee. Apparently, unfortunately, your planet is COMPLETELY devoid of any such sense!!"

"Yeah."

Zim seemed to fidget under her piercing gaze. He opened his mouth to say something else, but met her eyes and was silent.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was interested in the subject of the meeting."

"Which was what?"

Suddenly, Zim glared. "I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU ANYTHING!!"

Gaz stepped closer to him, shutting him up again. "Were you . . . following me?"

"WHY would I do THAT??? The almighty ZIMMMM has MUCH better things to do than follow around some pathetic human!!!!" he spat. "Especially humans who don't even--"

He fell abruptly silent, clamping his fists at his sides.

"When's the last time you talked to Dib?"

"HA!!!!!" Zim turned away from her, facing the wall opposite them completely. "The Dib-filth knows better than to show his face around ME."

Gaz suddenly felt. . . something. Maybe it was just the comfort of being away from that crowd, maybe the way her heartrate was calming down and the coldness of the air as oppose to the musty heat of that room was making it easier to focus on the way Zim's shoulders shook.

Slowly, she reached over and, after a moment of hovering, touched the small of his back not covered by his pak.

Zim shuddered at her touch, but she didn't retract her hand and he didn't verbally tell her to get off or do anything else. Gaz bit her lip. She was uncomfortable doing this, she didn't know how to do this.

"The people in there were annoying, huh?"

Zim's head perked up, just a tad.

"Yes. They were disgusting."

"Greasy."

"Smelly."

"Covered in sweat and filth."

Zim turned his head, offering a tiny, mean grin. "Someone should dump your disgusting earth water over them."

Gaz smiled.

"Wanna?"

* * *

Setting up was much, much easier than Gaz had expected. They'd run to Zim's base, where he hadn't even complained about her following him down below-- which seemed very strange, so she filed it away -- where Zim already had something set up with his ship that was easy enough to modify to carry a ton of water.

Once they'd (definitely illegally) tapped into the pipes and filled it up, Zim pulled Gaz into the voot cruiser with him and took off. She was almost too caught up in the hilarity of the moment to pay attention, but Zim seemed. . . off.

Not in a bad way, necessarily. He was . . . in his element, honestly. When he let out a delighted cackle upon seeing the building that was their destination, Gaz couldn't help but join in, laughing with him, and her sharp eyes did not miss the way he'd looked at her while she did so.

His wig had gotten knocked half-off during the flight, but when Gaz pointed it out to him, thinking he'd want to fix it, Zim didn't seem to care. In fact, upon hearing her say something, he shrugged and simply ripped off his wig, pulled out his contacts, and directed the voot to hover above the building full of filthies.

"How are we gonna get in?" Gaz asked.

"Let's pull the roof off," Zim announced.

She blinked. "Isn't there, like, an easier way?"

"Probably," he said, and proceeded to use the claw handles he'd attached to the voot to rip the roof off.

Zim laughed, a lot, as they dumped a ton of water onto the crowd. Screams and shouts rang out from below. Gaz only felt a tinge of sadness when she remembered why she wanted to go in the first place.

The little alien's laughs died down and he gave her a suspicious look.

"HEY."

"What?" Gaz was startled.

"Why are you angry."

There he went, paying attention again. It was bizarre.

"I'm not angry, I just wish I'd have gotten one of those consoles before we drenched and ruined them all," she admitted.

"Oh, the thingies that all those filthies wanted?" Zim smirked. "Little Gaz, you underestimate me."

There was a pause.

"What--"

"BEHOLD!!!" From underneath the dashboard of the ship, the alien yanked a big, lumpy bag. "For I, ZIM, is amazing and great and, eh, I knew you would want them so I stole a bunch before we even left."

Gaz's eyes widened. She blinked silently. The only sounds that could be heard were the screams of agony from the humans and the splashing of water.

Zim fidgeted uncomfortably, holding the bag out further. Dropped it in her lap.

"Do you not. . . Didn't. . . HEY!! What's wrong with you???" he demanded. Gaz, ignoring him, opened the bag. He had grabbed four consoles. They looked totally undamaged. How had he snagged them under her nose like that? Why had he grabbed them for her?

"Yes, yes, they are there!! Act, I dunno, _happy_ or something!!" He folded his arms, pouting. "Stupid human, doesn't even--"

Gaz dropped the bag on the floor and leapt forward awkwardly, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a tight hug. He made a little squeaky noise as she pressed her face into his neck, burrowing into the embrace.

His arms found her back, patting her desperately. One clawed hand went to her hair and stopped there, gently touching it. Gaz felt Zim's own head drop down onto hers, and heard him let out a deep, contented sigh.

She meant to hug him quickly and pull away, but the way Zim had responded made her tighten her grip without realizing. Having her ear against his neck made her realize there was a very soft purr rumbling from deep down inside him. His hand was actually stroking her hair at this point, and the other was rested against her lower back. It felt so, so nice. The sounds of the screams just made her feel more at home. This was. . . safe. This was nice.

Zim let out a very, very soft purr, and she felt him rub his cheek against her hair, back and forth quickly, like a cat.

Gaz's eyes popped open. This was WEIRD. Her arms shot back and she tumbled backwards, face red as a tomato.

"Thank you!" she yelled.

Zim's eyes, which had been as big as saucers, took on a manic vibe. "IT WAS NOTHING!!"

"We should probably go back to your base now!!!!"

"PERFECT!!! I AGREE!!!!"

Despite the wobbling in her legs, Gaz managed to find her seat again and slump down, covering her face with her hoodie. Zim, by contrast, sat bolt upright, fiercely grabbing the navigational tools and directing the voot cruiser back home.

Gaz didn't show her face the rest of the ride. Even her enjoyment of the flight was almost ruined by the fact that she wanted to do it again. Would she be able to ask him to do it again? Would that be safe?? Wait, why wouldn't it be safe???

Zim's remarkably uptight pose did not flinch until they landed, at which point he hopped up, stepped aside, and offered her a salute. Gaz's face burned as she tossed the bulky bag over her shoulder and climbed out of the ship.

"That was. . . . not insufferable," she managed, still not looking at him.

Even in her peripheral vision, she could see Zim's face light up spectacularly. He also was avoiding looking her way, but instead of being subtle about it, he was staring directly at the ceiling.

"YES. IT WAS ACCEPTABLE." he replied. "It would also be acceptable if we were to. . ."

"To do it again, sometime?"

"YES!" He cleared his throat. "I mean, yes."

"Cool."

"C. COOL."

Gaz fidgeted. She scratched her chin with her free hand.

"Okay, I'm leaving now."

"Oh. All right!" Zim saluted again, then seemed to realize he was saluting and immediately hid his hands behind his back. He made that stupid face that she used to enjoy seeing so much.

Man, it had been a while.

"You, uh, never told me why you were following me."

"I told you!!" he snapped. "I wasn't!!!"

"Okay, but why?"

He blinked and lowered his eyes. Suddenly, Gaz realized she'd ruined his mood somehow. She didn't want mopey, sad Zim. She wanted him fidgety, and saluting-then-trying-to-hide-it, and blushy.

"Nevermind. It doesn't matter," she said quickly. "It was nice to see you, Zim."

He froze, went completely, utterly still. Zim's eyes bugged out as he looked at her.

Gaz smiled, and he blinked rapidly, not believing what he was seeing.

"What?"

"I said, it was nice."

"I. Yes? It was. . . . hehhhh?"

He looked so ridiculous, grasping for something to say, and still not knowing, that Gaz decided she wanted to do something probably quite stupid.

She stepped a little closer.

"If you want to come over and play one of these sometime, you totally can."

"I. . . your base?" Zim looked like he was going to pass out, but not in a bad way. Gaz edged closer.

"We could play something together."

As an experiment, she'd let her voice drop a half-octave. His antennae popped up, so it seemed like he'd noticed.

"It. . ." he swallowed audibly. "It would not be fair, defeating the Gaz-human would come too easily to a superior irken like myself."

She leaned in a bit.

"Sure about that?"

Now Zim was openly staring at her lips, unable to direct his gaze anywhere else. He looked like he was trying to talk, but nothing came out.

"Zim?" Gaz had dropped her voice to a whisper, and his eyes snapped to hers.

"I would like to be," He licked his lips. "I would like to be reassured that you are. This? Is what it seems like? I am unfamiliar with your customs, but--"

"You followed me today."

It wasn't a question. Zim's face looked very hot, as several beads of sweat popped onto his forehead, and he nodded, almost imperceptibly.

"You noticed I was freaking out, and you helped me."

"Yes," he admitted, very very quietly.

"I want to thank you for that."

"No thanks is necessary!!" he exclaimed. "I--"

"The hug was a thank-you for the game system," she whispered. "Can I give you a different kind of thank-you for helping me?"

Zim's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "D-different? A different kind of--"

"Just say yes, Zim."

"Ye--"

Gaz leaned forward a little more, giving Zim a soft kiss right beside his mouth.

She pulled back quickly, looking for some, any sort of disgust in his face, any reason she should back off completely, but everything in his face was unconcealed adoration. Suddenly unable to handle it, Gaz began to take a step back, but Zim's arms shot out and gripped her sides with the same strength he had earlier.

"What about the water?" he demanded.

"What??"

"What about a thank-you for the outing? You would never have been able to soak those filthies without MY help and MY technology. Does ZIMMMM not deserve an appreciative gesture for that as well???"

"You." Gaz's face felt like it was on fire, but not in the same way it had been in the auditorium. That was discomfort, and frustration, and a fire of anger deep inside where she couldn't let it out. This fire was not completely unrecognizable, but definitely stronger than she'd ever felt it. "You want another. . . appreciative gesture?"

"Yes."

Zim stared at her, face devoid of embarrassment. In fact, it felt like with that one motion, he'd transferred all the flusteredness onto HER instead.

Normally, anyone trying to get ANYTHING out of her would result in a sound beating. But something in her was screaming at the top of its lungs to give him another appreciative gesture. Gaz leaned forward, mechanically, but before she could reach him, Zim threw his arms up and around her shoulders and tugged her down further.

"Zim!!" Gaz squeaked, right before he met her halfway, kissing her directly on the lips.

It was just as fast as the first, with him letting her go directly afterwards. Gaz stumbled backwards, legs going jelly-like again, with her eyes completely blown wide open.

"Eh,, you." Zim was glaring at her now. arms tightly folded at his chest level, puffing himself up as tall as he could, standing at attention again. "You may see yourself out of my incredible base, I have important duties to see to right now immediately. Have an acceptable rest of your day, Gaz-human, and I will see you next time my plans of doom have reached a point when I have free time and can indulge myself in the horrible-ness of your earthly video games."

Through this entire speech, Gaz had stood still, just looking at him. He had grabbed her, and he had kissed her, and she should be murdering him right about now. Why wasn't she killing him? This was too awkward to bear.

"Bye," she managed to say, grabbing the bag and fleeing out the door.

Curse him, she wouldn't be able to leave the house for a week waiting for him to swing by. It only occurred to her once she had gotten home and flopped facedown on her bed that he didn't even have her phone number.

**Author's Note:**

> this isn't actually canon to my fic timelines ghkjhgfjklhg !!! it's an excerpt from what might have been and all that.


End file.
